German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has described Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s asylum agreement on establishing reception centers in Albania as exemplary.
There has been a significant rapprochement in German-Italian bilateral relations, and the previous climate of coldness and hostility seems to be easing. Two months ago there were serious diplomatic tensions between Rome and Berlin.
In September, Meloni wrote a letter to Scholz expressing her outrage at the German government’s support for Italian NGOs and the €790,000 in government funding sent to the German NGO SOS Humanity, which carries out search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and then transports illegal immigrants to Italy.
According to Italian press reports, the Italian prime minister traveled to the German capital on Wednesday to sign a strategic agreement between the two countries. The talks will focus on energy, trade cooperation between the two countries, support for Ukraine, and migration.
Meloni was accompanied on her trip to Berlin by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso, Labor Minister Maria Elvira Calderone, and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini.
The German Chancellor praised the Italian government’s migration policy and expressed his satisfaction that Albania, which in his opinion will become a member of the EU in the near future, is already sharing in the migration difficulties. He stressed that the German government would continue to advocate the distribution of migrants among EU member states, insisting that no country should bear the burden of migration alone.
The migration challenge can only be solved through close cooperation with countries outside the EU, Scholz added.
Commenting on the agreement reached in Tirana last week, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told Il Corriere della Sera that although closed reception centers will be set up in Albania, the Italian side will take full responsibility for the processing of asylum applications.
He also stressed that they intended to conclude an agreement of this nature only with Italy, explaining that Albania believes it has a duty to help Italy and cannot forget that in the past, the Italians have also supported and welcomed Albanian refugees.
